Nick Heywood.
19 year old apprentice jockey Nick Heywood has defied odds of 20-1 in the Snake Gully Cup at Gundagai today.
The former Harden man now based in Wagga is continuing to show he can match it with some of the best jockeys in country New South Wales.
Heywood had four rides for the day, claiming second place in his second race on Monte Ainslie in Race 4, over 1400m. He picked up the ride on Zero To Ten in the Cup and the 6 year old gelding by Danzero didn’t dissappoint. Heywood sat just off leader Lampedusa in second place before taking off at the 600 metre mark and taking the lead 400 metres from home on the Jim Scobie trained horse, before holding off Just A Blur.
The win is the biggest so far in a short career which is showing plenty of potential for the young jockey.
Zero To Ten ran 10 of 13 at Warwick Farm 2 days ago over 16oom, however the bay gelding had the wood on his competitors today cantering over the line on the soft track.
Zero To Ten has the good record of 31 starts including 8 wins, 4 2nds and 4 3rds. Heywood and the horse have worked well together first saddling up for a 2nd placing in Albury in October last year. They teamed up again in June at Goulburn to claim another 1400m race, before connections claimed $32,710 in the feature race today.
The hard facts state 2 wins and a 2nd from 3 starts for the duo.
Heywood was ecstatic with the win and thanked Leeton trainer Peter Clancy for giving him his start and his father Chris Heywood who he is completing his apprenticeship under. “I just love riding at the moment and want to ride as much as possible and win as many races as I can. Jim’s done a great job with him, all credit goes to Jim and his staff. I just want to thank him and the owners for putting me on.”
Heywood doesn’t shirk high work load and the travel. He is in scintillating form after picking up 3 doubles in 5 days, claiming 2 wins in Albury, Goulburn and Moruya between November 5 and November 10 last week. He will head to Rosehill tomorrow to ride High Opinion in Race 3 over 1400m. High Opinion is trained by Nick’s Father at Wagga with the current Southern District Racing Association Trainer of The Year confident of the horses chances. Chris said “He is one of the best horses in the stable and a real goer.” High Opinion has had 13 starts for 3 wins, 5 2nds and 3 3rds with his last win in Albury over 1600m. There will be no rest for the young hoop who will ride in 5 races in Canberra on Sunday.
Heywood claimed Runner Up for the SDRA Apprentice Of The Year title missing out by just one win this season. He spent just over 3 months off the track, after a mount reared in the barriers at Goulburn injuring his knee. Heywood showed plenty of courage to get back on the horses and narrowly missed out on the title after missing a quarter of his potential rides during the season.
